Kingston City Hall (New York) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Kingston City Hall
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South elevation and east profile, 2008
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| Location | Kingston, NY |
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| Built | 1872–73 |
| Architect | Arthur Crooks |
| Architectural style | Victorian |
| NRHP reference No. | 71000563 |
| Added to NRHP | December 9, 1971 |
The City Hall building in Kingston, New York, is a really old and important building. It's made of red brick and was built way back in 1873. It's a great example of Victorian architecture, which was popular a long time ago. This building is special because it sits right where two old villages, Kingston and Rondout, used to meet before they joined together to form the city of Kingston.
It started being used by the city government in 1875. Later, in 1927, a big fire damaged it, so it had to be fixed up. In 1971, it became a historic place, which means it's officially recognized as important. The city government moved out for a while but then came back after the building was beautifully restored.
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What Does Kingston City Hall Look Like?
Kingston City Hall sits on a small hill on the north side of Broadway. It's right across from Kingston High School and the Kingston City Library. There's a curved driveway that leads up to it.
The building has three floors and a special roof called a mansard roof. This roof is covered with colorful slate tiles. On the front, there's a tall bell tower. The building's base is made of strong limestone. The walls are made of red bricks, decorated with lighter colored bricks around the windows. You can also see fancy terra cotta decorations.
The main entrance is inside the bell tower. It has stone columns with leafy designs and an arch above. There are also cool griffin statues on each side. The roof has two dormer windows on each side, which are windows that stick out from the roof. The tower has an open area for a bell with iron railings and three arches, topped by a pointed roof.
Inside, the floors are made of terrazzo, a type of floor with chips of marble or glass. On the top floor, there's a large room where the city council meets. It's lit by fancy chandeliers and can hold up to 400 people!
The History of Kingston City Hall
How Kingston City Hall Came to Be
In 1872, three areas – Kingston, Rondout, and Wilbur – joined together to form the city of Kingston we know today. The new city wanted a special building to show how modern and important it was. So, they hired an architect named Arthur Crooks. He was famous for designing churches.
Crooks was inspired by an English artist named John Ruskin. Ruskin loved old Italian building styles. Kingston's City Hall has many features that Ruskin admired, like colorful brick patterns and towers. The building was even built right where the old villages used to meet, to show they were now one city. It took two years to build, and the city started using it for meetings and daily work in 1875.
Changes After a Fire
The original building had a complex roof and an open bell tower. But in 1927, a fire destroyed the tower and badly damaged the roof. A team of architects helped rebuild it, changing the design to what you see today. They also did a lot of work inside to make the building safer from fire. They replaced wooden parts with materials like terrazzo floors and marble staircases. Doors were covered in metal, and chimneys were closed off.
They also made other big changes inside. The mayor's office moved from the second floor to the first. On the third floor, they created a huge room for city council meetings, big enough for 400 people. They added more decorations to the walls and hung beautiful lights from the ceiling.
Moving Out and Moving Back In
Kingston was a busy city for a long time, especially with the IBM facility nearby. But in the late 1960s, the city center started to get less busy as people moved to the suburbs. The city decided to move its government to a new building closer to the waterfront to help that area. So, in 1972, exactly 100 years after it was first planned, the city government moved out of the old City Hall.
For over 20 years, the empty building slowly started to fall apart. The outside walls crumbled, and the beautiful inside became filled with broken glass and rusty metal. Water leaked in, damaging the chandeliers and turning the wall plaster into dust.
But the building was still strong, and many people wanted to save it. Members of the Old Dutch Church even saved some plaster decorations that showed the city's history and kept them safe in their basement. Finally, a new young mayor, T.R. Gallo, came into office in 1994. He wanted to help the city, and after being re-elected, he suggested restoring City Hall and moving the government back.
In 1998, the city council agreed to raise money for the restoration. With money from bonds, private donations, and state and federal grants, they raised $6.5 million. The building was beautifully restored and reopened in 2000. It has been used by the city government ever since!
